Mobile communication units (MCU's), such as cellular phones, personal data assistants (PDA's), Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, and on-board Vehicle Communication Units (VCU's), used in conjunction with a Wide Area Network (WAN), such as a cellular telephone network or a satellite communication system, have made it possible for a person to send and receive voice communications, data transmissions, and FAX messages from virtually anywhere on earth. Such communication is initiated at the MCU when it is turned on, or by entering a phone number to be called, or in many cases, by pressing a preprogrammed button on the MCU or speaking a voice command causing the MCU to automatically complete the process of dialing the number to be called. A radio communication link is established between the MCU and a Wide Area Network (WAN), using a node of the WAN in the vicinity of the MCU.
In cellular telephone systems, a node is commonly referred to as a “cellular receiving center.” Once the radio communication link between the MCU and the cellular receiving center has been established, the receiving center then utilizes a combination of additional cellular stations, conventional telephone wire line networks, and possibly even satellite systems to connect the MCU to the number to be called.
For an MCU operating in a single country of origin, existing communication systems are highly automated and capable of making the complex connections between the MCU and the number to be called in a manner that is, in most cases, virtually imperceptible to the person initiating communication from the MCU. Indeed, MCU users expect and demand that they be able to place a call with little or no effort on their part, beyond dialing a phone number, or pressing a speed dial button.
Wireless communication services for MCU users, such as navigation and roadside assistance, have increased rapidly in recent years. Most of the services that have been offered are for a motor vehicle in operation, and include services that may require location and destination information.
An Automated Speech Recognition (ASR) platform as is known in the art, may be designed to respond to a MCU users transmitted speech signal (e.g., voice commands) from the mobile vehicles with an audio signal that corresponds to the context of the transmitted speech signal. This may provide the wireless communication services to be accessed via the ASR; however, a customer assistant representative is still required for many of the services.
A current method of wireless communication services for MCU users as are known in the art may allow for an MCU users request for the mobile vehicle's present location information to be provided manually or in conjunction with the ASR. As mentioned, the current method typically provides such information through an operator or customer assistant from a wireless communication services customer assistance center (or other such manually staffed service center). As many as 25,000 calls a day may be made to wireless communication service customer assistance centers requesting an MCU users mobile vehicle's present location information. The cost for the assistance center to answer this request alone is very high, with a very small return on investment. Also, the current methods for providing the mobile vehicle's present location information may supply little if any additional geographic information.
Thus, there is a significant need for a method and system for improving the communication of a vehicle's location information that overcomes the above disadvantages and shortcomings, as well as other disadvantages.